I have already established my power and prestige, so how did Li Shimin come back to life?

As he spoke, Li Shimin took up his reading glasses, shook them at Li Chengqian, and said with a smile, "This thing is good. Make one for me when you have time."

Li Chengqian stood there, looking carefully at Li Shimin's face through the flickering candlelight.

He suddenly realized that he couldn't remember how long it had been since he had seen Li Shimin so closely.

His thoughts drifted back to when he was eight years old. At that time, he already had his own ideas and wanted to go to Xianyang to develop on his own.

As a result, he was severely spanked by Li Shimin.

He had just been made the crown prince that year. If Empress Zhangsun had not intervened in time, he would have been in great pain that day.

In order to be able to go out and be independent, Li Chengqian did many things that seemed incredible to others to anger Li Shimin.

He rejected the three prince guards, the thousand bulls of the Eastern Palace, and other forces that were supposed to protect him, and he even refused to accept the imperial guards.

He would rather be hungry and thirsty than accept everything Li Shimin arranged for him.

He pretended to be dead to avoid studying, and spent his days walking birds, playing with dogs, and training hawks, causing chaos in the palace.

Li Shimin was furious with him. Even though many ministers could not stand it and petitioned Li Shimin to appoint another crown prince, Li Shimin's attitude remained firm.

Later, Li Shimin compromised with Li Chengqian.

He promised Li Chengqian that he could go to Xianyang to develop, but the prerequisite was that he had to study hard, become a good crown prince in the future, and bring honor to his father in the court.

The eight-year-old Li Chengqian also promised Li Shimin that he would be a good prince, but he had to make three rules with Li Shimin.

When he was in Xianyang, Li Shimin could not interfere with him; Li Shimin could not monitor his every move in Xianyang; he also had to close off half of the jurisdiction of the road from Xianyang City to Chang'an, and establish a private territory that belonged only to him without endangering the people.

At that time, even though Li Chengqian made such an impolite request, Li Shimin did not beat or scold him, but just looked at him quietly.

Three days later, for some unknown reason, Li Shimin agreed with Li Chengqian's idea.

When Empress Changsun was still alive, even though Li Chengqian was in Xianyang every day, he had to return to Chang'an once a month to accompany Empress Changsun.

Every month, Li Shimin would test Li Chengqian on what he had learned in Xianyang. When he found that he was doing well, he would let him go. Li Chengqian would also bring some of the achievements made in the people's livelihood in Xianyang every time to prove to Li Shimin that he was not exploiting the people and was truly managing Xianyang well.

However, after the appearance of Qingque, Li Shimin paid less and less attention to Li Chengqian.

Whenever Li Chengqian was not in Chang'an, Qingque seemed to have become the "crown prince" in the palace.

When he was seventeen, after Empress Changsun passed away, his relationship with Li Shimin reached a complete freezing point.

Except for a trip back to Chang'an during the Spring Festival, he almost always stayed in Xianyang, waiting for the right opportunity.

In Li Chengqian's memory, Li Shimin always looked young, as if everything in the world was in his mind, full of vigor and omnipotence.

But today, Li Chengqian discovered that Li Shimin was really old.

His back was no longer as straight as before, but slightly hunched; many wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes that were not there before.

The face that Li Chengqian once thought was extremely handsome had now become a little dark yellow and black, and there were some age spots that only appeared at his age, which were particularly obvious under the candlelight.

Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian for a long time without saying anything, and didn't want to embarrass Li Chengqian anymore, so he said casually: "If you don't want to, forget it."

Before Li Shimin finished speaking, Li Chengqian's voice had already taken over.